Selfishly
by Asuka Kimi
Summary: Inuyasha wanted to write his name in peace.


**Inuyasha** **© Rumiko Takahashi**

* * *

This was done 95% some time last year and I managed to finish it only now because I need to get it out before I move on to write down the idea that push me to finish it in the first place. I had planned to break it into 2 parts but saw it didn't make sense to do so if I cut the whole thing in half where the half of it was so I left it as it is.

I hope you enjoy reading.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Letting out an unmanly squawk, Inuyasha jumped from his seat and immediately slammed his hands on the paper he had been working on. Unfortunately, his older sibling was perpetually better when it came to speed. Nimble and delicate fingers successfully snatched the parchment before Inuyasha could viciously stab it with his ink-dripping brush to eliminate the subject of his humiliation.

An elegant silver eyebrow arched at the content on the thin sheet. It was Inuyasha's name written in calligraphy—_ 'Or what it was supposed to… _look like_,'_ The demon silently corrected his observation.

Said name's owner resisted the urge to squirm when that penetrating golden gaze slid toward him after seemingly done its scrutiny session with the paper. A certain half-demon then gasped in indignation when his brother promptly raised the unoccupied hand, fingers curled in a fist, to hide his twitching lips. Sesshoumaru abruptly turned his back to his dismayed sibling, a chortle managed to escape his throat but the rest was more or less restrained, however the shaking of his shoulders was a glaring fact that was a hard work even for himself.

Inuyasha almost stomped his feet and threw a very unsightly fit at the demon who apparently had no shame in laughing at the expense of his own sibling. Moodily, he settled to fold his hands inside the sleeves of his robe and huffed. "It's not that bad…" He muttered sullenly.

Sesshoumaru turned around to look at his sulking younger counterpart, lips and shoulders occasionally twitching, but his expression perfectly calmed and collected as if he wasn't _still_ snickering thanked to the innocent culprit trapped between his long fingers. "Very well," He allowed, neither agreed nor disagreed with Inuyasha's insistence.

Inuyasha frowned unhappily. "It's not like I had the time to practice, you know, after…" The air sobered up as the unspoken event of his Mother's passing hung between them. Lady Izayoi was a princess, it went without a shadow of doubt that she would use the remaining of her mortal lifetime to personally ensure her son received the education befitting of a royalty.

Instead of addressing the sudden tension, Sesshoumaru directed, "Sit down."

Confused but curiosity won over, Inuyasha obeyed without a fuss, situated himself back in the seat previously abandoned in his hasty quest to destroy the embarrassing failure before his sibling could catch a glimpse of it. Having no idea what to expect, his heart thundered in his ears as he felt his brother's chest came into contact with his back. Sesshoumaru reached around him to readjust the forgotten brush in his hand, covered it with his own and guided it on the blank sheet with smooth and precise strokes. When the demon withdrew his hand, Inuyasha set the brush down to admire the result. This time it was beautifully done, as if someone had been writing his name a whole lifetime to recreate each character in the same manner one regarded an invaluable treasure or perhaps a carefully hidden legacy, wordlessly respected and worthy of more than all material inheritances combined.

"I could have been left in blindness to what was truly entrusted in my hands. I told him I desired the power only he could give, in the form of Tetsusaiga and So'unga," Sesshoumaru whispered, barely audible in a downy ear near his lips, a fingertip gingerly trailed the outline of the paper as they watched the ink drying. "Not long ago I realized I could have lost something far greater even a power second to none in my disposal would be rendered completely useless. Rin didn't die once, but twice. The second time I lost her was when I knew Tenseiga could only cheat death once but not always so with Kagura. However the first time I thought I lost you, nothing could have brought you back to me from somewhere I couldn't reach, not by anything our Father could have given me or everything in my Mother's possession. At least five decades ago that priestess Kikyo didn't make you disappear. For the first time I regretted letting Kagome live. Even if you would have loathed me for killing her there was still something I could have done, as long you were here."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, but a hand firmly held his jaw close cutting his attempt short. "Demons such as myself are selfish creatures, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru went on, "Our desire is not that far off from human nature, in fact very much alike, there is only a difference in intensity."

"We could have been different," Inuyasha lamented, cradling Sesshoumaru's hand in both of his own, fighting the whimsical urge to either interlace their fingers or nuzzling it with his cheek.

"No," The older sibling denied, "Things must happen the way it did, or I would never realize what I had before it was too late. You had more reasons to never return than not, and I know better than to believe that was a stroke of luck coincidently happened in my life."

"Her world is something I never understand. It was foreign, it denied everything I grew up with and everything I knew. It was somewhere that unnerved me… more than Naraku. I'd rather fight the Spider bastard all over again than living in it. And more importantly…" Inuyasha trailed off, unconsciously tightened his grip on Sesshoumaru's hand. _You were not there. _"She has her family there, her grandpa, her mother and her younger brother. It's not like she was alone," He said instead.

"They treated you well." His sibling observed from the lack of contempt in his tone.

"They did." Inuyasha confirmed.

"I see." Was all Sesshoumaru said before they fell silent, again facing the truth that Inuyasha could have chosen to pursue a better life with his human love interest than returned to the timeline hardly had a place for him.

Their past was not pretty, but Inuyasha was content with what he had now. And Sesshoumaru didn't go around claiming he would be the one to kill him with his own hands anymore. He would be perfectly fine leaving it behind and never touched that page again, Sesshoumaru could have done the same. They could have pretended their relationship had not started out downright ugly for as long as they knew each other. Inuyasha knew it was not an easy matter to prod and their current intimacy was more fragile than they wanted to admit that could be broken at any given carelessness. But because of that same reason they had to deal with it very soon, to get it out of their way before any unwarranted drift came between them, took advantage of it to tear them apart, not now when neither truly wish for something of the sort to ever happen again. It was a bitter lesson given to him by Naraku. Both he and Kikyo didn't trust each other enough that they were easily fooled by an entity born from the wish of a dying man who made no secret of his desire for both Kikyo and the Sacred Jewel. He was just grateful that he didn't lose everything when it was over.

.

_._

_._

_Right when he returned after seeing Kagome off, he had been knocked off the Goshinboku tree branch by a painful fist square in his cheek but landed literally in the waiting arms of his attacker standing below. "Cry," Sesshoumaru had ordered, letting him hide his face in his shoulder. Inuyasha had laughed almost hysterically despite himself, but grateful that his tears were forever lost somewhere within his sibling's fur and never rolled down his cheeks. Those weren't meant to mourn for the five centuries time apart from Kagome, but an indescribable joy to know he hadn't unknowingly left behind a family who would have shed a tear for him just like Kagome's had cried for her. "You are ridiculous," He had promptly told his brother then. The single droplet tapped one of his ears that time wasn't rain._

.

.

.

Setting the paper carefully aside and adjusted a new blank sheet to his liking with the long edge at the top, Inuyasha picked up a smaller brush than the one he had used earlier, absentmindedly scrawled out an algebra problem he remembered reading from a book during one of his stays in Kagome's time while she had been fussing over another of her 'test'.

"This formula is a little advance from what I've known," Sesshoumaru mused, but he solved the problem anyway after pulling the brush free from his sibling's loose fingers.

"It is something developed by the end of… about four centuries later," Inuyasha explained, apprehensively, hoping his sibling was open to a talk about the miracle of time traveling and wouldn't just believe he'd hit his head somewhere in between and decided he was done with him.

"Despite the complications, it can still be solved in one way or another. Unlike life."

"I think so." Inuyasha agreed carefully, still unable to tell his brother's thoughts. "It's more enjoyable than other books in her time." _Like history, for example._

"Oh?" Sesshoumaru moved away from Inuyasha's personal space and sat on the chair to his left.

"Creatures like us aren't real in her world. The books that mentioned weren't considered to be something that had really happened… only to serve as children's bedtime stories and for educational purposes. It was as if human history denied our existence." Inuyasha exhaled harshly, trying to control his temper. "It didn't help that I sensed no demon either. Can demons even go extinct?"

"Of course," Sesshoumaru replied nonchalantly.

Inuyasha gaped at his demon sibling, incredulous. How could he just accept _that_?!

"Calamity is one of natural selections," Sesshoumaru tilted his head slightly, gaze never left his younger counterpart. "Just only because demons have more advantages than humans doesn't mean we automatically come out victorious when one befalls us."

"I was trying to find exactly at what point and how demons vanished from human's mind." Inuyasha insisted, frowning from his own discontent when Sesshoumaru didn't humor him with the usual haughtiness.

"It is exactly where you are mistaken," The older sibling pointed out cryptically, "You had been finding the wrong thing to begin with."

Before Inuyasha could demand what his brother meant by that statement, a familiar presence from the hallway stopped him.

"My apologies for interrupting you, Sesshoumaru-sama. Our scouts have picked up a disturbance from the East and on stand-by for your further instruction." Jaken informed them.

"You are dismissed," Sesshoumaru said to his retainer, leaving his seat and walked to the balcony.

Their current chamber was a spacious area with spiral architecture that had an open view of the sky on the topmost floor. It was the library with a seemingly never-ending height, the shelves all filled up from ground to ceiling with various kinds of archives in different languages and even artifacts on certain places that went along with the corresponding records on the same floor. The place had been Inuyasha's camping site ever since Sesshoumaru brought him to his Mother's Sky Palace. No demon, invited or not, dared to approach any inner part of Royal Fortress let alone bothered him here.

The half-demon followed his sibling, standing side by side and watched the sunset together. "Still no news of her?" He asked anyway despite already knew the answer.

"I am not actively looking," Sesshoumaru told him, perfectly calmed in a situation where his own Mother had suddenly gone missing. "She will be back when she's too bored."

"Uh… if you say so…" Inuyasha said haltingly, remembered Sesshoumaru had emphasized many times the reason they were here at all was because of his insistence.

_._

_The lesser demon was practically groveling on the ground and begging a certain pure-breed Dog Demon whose heart was as cold as the expression on his face._

_He had heard a commotion not far from the village after his sibling's departure and went to investigate. Gaze darting between Sesshoumaru and the other demon obviously shared Jaken's impressive height and hair genetics, skin a dark shade of red and a single slit pale green eye on the center of the head, an _Oni_, "What's going on?" Inuyasha asked cautiously._

_"What is a half—" The Oni didn't get to finish his shrieking query before a black leather boot stepped firmly on his head, planting him to the ground where he had been already on hands and knees, and purposely pressed him down even deeper while Sesshoumaru approached his confused sibling._

_"Pl…ease… Sessho…maru-sama…" The Oni tried again, "Your… Mo…ther…"_

_Inuyasha looked at his brother in alarm. It didn't take long for him to learn about the Lady's disappearance and the threat of an army aiming to take over her Palace from the nervous Oni. To said Oni's forever gratitude, while Inuyasha's chivalrous sense failed to make Sesshoumaru act like he cared ("It's your Mother! We must do something!" "No thank you.") he successfully persuaded his sibling at least to bring him to the Palace, claiming he wanted to know more about his demon origin. With an irritated twitch of his brow, Sesshoumaru yielded and off they went, not before he stepped on the Oni for the second time._

_It puzzled Inuyasha how he knew exactly where to go that would lead him to the library, not even once looking like a lost puppy on the way. But true to his word, he locked himself in the chamber upon arriving and pushed his annoyed brother in the direction of those demons who had been in tears of joy at his appearance. Had the half-demon looked back, he should have seen Jaken got flung out to the entrance staircases by unseen force before his kappa feet could step in the hallway while yelling at the top of his lungs to stop Inuyasha from advancing further inside. Or the smirk on his half-brother's face as his eyes lidded condescendingly, taking pleasure at the flabbergasted expression of the demons who watched the scene with incoherent bulging eyes and offered them no explanation._

.

"What is the problem with the East?" The younger questioned, trying to get his sibling pay more attention to the problem at hand.

"We are Dog demons of the West, they are Wolf demons of the East. Their current leader used to be our Father's acquaintance and ally since early time. Until the most recent war against Ryukotsusei."

It was the name of the Dragon taiyoukai who ultimately wounded their Father and… Inuyasha noticed Sesshoumaru's eyes had narrowed into slit. While feeling a little unnerved, for they had been walking on eggshells around each other since his return, Inuyasha touched his sibling's hand. When Sesshoumaru hadn't made a move to toss him toward the horizon yet, he got bolder and squeezed the appendage. For something could call forth lethal poison and punched through his torso once, it never ceased to amazed him how soft and cold the skin actually was, like silk.

"While it was said that their alliance was broken, I am now more incline to believe another possibility where our Father had talked him into staying out of the problem should anything happen to him. To protect a loyal friend who wouldn't hesitate taking the risk of invoking a grudge even within his own ranks, to stand by his side. And that wouldn't be the only one." Tightened his own hand in response, Sesshoumaru tilted his head to look at the younger in the eyes. "Even when he lost the support of many allies, Father was very determined to pursue your Mother. I couldn't understand him then, but now…"

"Is it really that horrendous of an offense? A demon and a human?" Inuyasha smiled bitterly.

"It used to be _kindness_." Sesshoumaru gave their hands a tug to pull Inuyasha closer until their chests almost touching, he put his other hand on Inuyasha's head, flicking the downy ear almost playfully with his thumb. "But gradually it became foolishness."

Inuyasha was silent, patiently waiting for his brother to elaborate.

"A demon can easily outlive a human. One would die before the other's time ran out. Their children would lose one parent at a very young age. But there also came the insanity of seeing that same face every day while one more noticeably grew older, taking notice of how they were losing each other far quicker than they ever wanted to prepare for, and with the knowledge of how different they were from the start a constant reminder. What would become of those who were left behind."

"You mean they are all victims no matter how you see it." Inuyasha concluded.

"I wouldn't assume so far since apparently one couldn't help falling in love with another. Some called it a blessing, others believed it was a curse."

"Have you…?" Inuyasha trailed off, knowing his brother heard the rest of his question.

"I wonder." Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed in amusement.

Inuyasha cleared his throat and looked away, feeling awkward realizing he had gotten a little too personal because his sibling didn't show any sign of discomfort, he went back to their original topic. "So, assuming the Wolves stopped supporting the Old Man because we-knew-what and now they could want a piece of this Palace since your Mother is off to who-knows-where?"

Fortunately for him, Sesshoumaru played along. "I don't remember their leader as someone who would do something of the sort, but it had been a long time since I last saw him. Or he could be entertaining the idea of someone else. I heard he named the Wolf Prince Kouga of Yoro Clan his successor recently."

"Hold on, did I hear Wolf Prince Kouga?" Inuyasha cut in.

The older sibling raised an eyebrow. "You certainly did."

"If he happens to be the same Mangy-Wolf I know, I can pay him a visit and ask what he's planning to do. I doubt he'll turn me away. If worse comes to worst something happened to me, you would certainly know where they stood in the matter."

"Know you place, _hanyou_," Sesshoumaru raised his voice, almost growling, hand slid down from Inuyasha's head to grip his neck in warning but not to inflict pain. "Do you think they will listen to a half-breed?"

"I don't know about them but I have the Lord of Western Lands listened to me just fine," Inuyasha retorted, unfazed by the older demon's threatening aura and his same old insults. "If I am half-unworthy as you wish I would believe, why are you even angry?"

"Because you are unnecessary suicidal." Sesshoumaru snapped, withdrew his hands, turned away from Inuyasha and looked at the darkening sky.

"And you think possibly fighting _two_ taiyoukais at the same time is not?" Inuyasha demanded.

"It is the lesser devil compare to your _delightful_ idea." Sesshoumaru bantered.

"Did you just say something sarcastic to me?" A little flustered, Inuyasha grinned, nudging his sibling's rib with his elbow.

"I have no idea what nonsense you are sprouting. This place is causing some bad effects on your brain. I will return you to the village tomorrow."

"Sounds awfully like you'd fly back here right after getting rid of me there. I could always run off to the East behind your back, you know, since you wouldn't be looking." Inuyasha challenged.

One narrowed golden eye twitched.

* * *

_"Ouch…" Inuyasha winced and exhaled in relief when the muscles of his neck popped, then feeling the pinprick sensation along his arms while his blood circulation was regulating itself. He was a little annoyed but too giddy to care about the reason for his discomfort, though. Some divines blessed him that he wasn't grinning like an idiot too._

_"Ah, Inuyasha-sama, good morning!" Rin greeted him cheerily. She had been sorting out an assortment of freshly picked herbal leaves by the fireplace when she saw him stuck his head in Kaede's hut. Seeing the almost absentminded look on his face, her smile faltered in slight confusion. "Are you feeling alright?" She questioned with a hint of worry. His countenance wasn't pointing out that he was physically ill in anyway._

_After a pause as if trying to remember what he heard from her, Inuyasha blinked once, twice. "Hm…? Oh, I'm fine…"_

'Definitely not.'_ She concluded but knowing better than to press him… _directly_. "Are you looking for Kaede-sama? She's been wondering if you got lost somewhere in your forest since you didn't return last night."_

_"That's because Sesshoumaru thought I was his personal teddy bear and didn't let go of me at all until he woke up!" Inuyasha snapped defensively._

_'Oooohhh!' Rin mentally cheered, but her forming grin turned into a gasp. "You meant… Sesshoumaru-sama _slept_?!"_

_He walked in and sat across from the human girl who gaped at him, eyes wide. "Of course he did! I still can't feel my hands!" Inuyasha complained, wiggling his fingers in front of him to emphasize his unfortunate dilemma, having no idea where to put his arms, trapped between their chests when his demon sibling pulled him in his lap and promptly closed his eyes._

_"But Jaken-sama told me because Sesshoumaru-sama was a taiyoukai, he didn't sleep." Rin insisted, though she inwardly taking notes from a more reliable source to detail her Lord._

_Inuyasha scoffed. "More like he doesn't _need_ sleep when his enemies were lurking at his back. That dumb kappa probably thought Sesshoumaru was a God too, and to him that was also right."_

_Rin nodded in agreement. "I have never seen Sesshoumaru-sama slept before. I doubt Jaken-sama ever did." She hummed thoughtfully, trying to picture her sleeping Lord but couldn't come up with any plausible image._

_Inuyasha's ears peaked up at that. _What?

.

_"Hush. Your brother does sleep from time to time when he lost the interest to be caution." He stopped squirming instantly, stared at Sesshoumaru's peaceful expression as he was reposing._

_._

_He momentarily regretted telling her but feeling stupid thereafter, for a larger part of him grateful that she inadvertently let him in another intimate secret._

You slept when you know I'm safe in your arms.

.

.

.

"Worried?"

Inuyasha glanced at the Wolf Prince on his right before looking back at the blood red dawn. "Not really. Just a little restless."

Kouga raised an eyebrow, unable to fathom what made of Inuyasha's current mood. "Didn't you come here knowing he's going to win now with one less enemy to fear about?"

Ignored the pathetic jab, gripping the hilt of his sword and gave Kouga pointed look, the half-demon quipped, "I know he will definitely win. If my Tetsusaiga can kill hundred in one swing, his Bakusaiga can take down a thousand with the same effort."

Kouga whistled, clearly just humoring his companion by feigning impressed. "And?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "He doesn't have a very high impression of his opponent."

"He is still the same arrogant puppy as I remember." The two younger demons turned their heads in the direction of the new voice, spoken from behind the bamboo blinds. The elder was always behind blinds, hence Inuyasha had no idea how she looked like. Through Kouga, he had come to know her as the Lady of the Eastern Lands and meanwhile, the Eastern Lord had gone on one of his journeys to take a break from his duties.

"Arrogant he may be," Inuyasha agreed, "But my brother does have a good reason to."

"That, I am not denying," The Lady chuckled at his defensive tone, "We might have not the chance to see it however."

Kouga frown. That was such an obvious statement. "Because we are not partaking."

"No. He will not draw his sword, because he has more reasons… _not_ to." The elder glanced at Inuyasha with knowing eyes.

Inuyasha looked at Kouga, who was equally confused. "I don't understand."

"What is he like to you, Inuyasha?" The Lady asked instead, "You can freely speak your mind, we are not going to prejudice you for insulting your Lord."

"He's just a bastard, but I've got over it, and he's just a bastard after all." Inuyasha deadpanned without a hint of hesitation.

"Huh?" Kouga gawked stupidly.

While the elder demon laughed heartily. "I see."

"I don't get it. His Mother should have caught wind of what is happening, why she is nowhere to be found still?" Inuyasha huffed, folding his hands in his sleeves.

"She is whimsical, but not irrational," Was all the Lady told him.

"I think leaving her son dealing with the houses' troubles alone is irrational enough." Inuyasha muttered under his breath, knowing the other demons heard him just fine.

"To be fair, isn't 'dealing with the houses' troubles alone' just exactly what she has been doing ever since… _forever_?" The elder questioned, though her tone was light, an edge was meticulously slipped in.

Inuyasha visibly flinched as if he'd just got a slap on his wrist. "Even so…"

"Yes even so, she should be there _if_ they were to fight for their Fortress."

"And that's what Sesshoumaru is doing," Inuyasha insisted.

"He is _not_," The Lady denied. "After all there is no point in protecting an empty house."

"What do you mean?"

"Inuyasha, you are here to ensure the Eastern army won't make a move against your sibling without his knowing. But exactly what are you trying to protect or rather, _who_?"

_._

_"Be safe and stay alive," Sesshoumaru told him as he prepared to hop on Ah-Un, but his brother seized his wrist, almost violently tugged him backward, arms holding him tightly from behind. "That also includes fleeing if you think fight back is pointless, which it is."_

_"You wouldn't know. Maybe he'd be too offended with our offering and released his big-bad wolf demon form for me to conveniently send him off with Bakuryuha?" Inuyasha sassed, leaned back to nuzzle Sesshoumaru's neck._

_"Your offering is too good for an old codger like him." The demon sneered condescendingly._

A hostage_. They were offering the son of their late Great Dog General to the Demon Lord of Eastern lands in exchange for his alliance or at the very least, sabotaged their main adversary's attempt recruiting a former ally to his side of the battlefield. No matter how strong Sesshoumaru had become, in the end Inuyasha wouldn't want to take any risk if they had to fight two taiyoukais with only one currently available in their midst._

_"Or he'll realize I'm better than Kouga and gladly let me replace the mangy-wolf instead." Inuyaha waggled his brows at his sibling, "Even you know I'm better than him."_

_"I see you'd prefer leading Wolves than being _my heir_."_

_"You are younger than him anyhow, who knows how long until I'd get to sit on your throne." Inuyasha harrumphed, looking away to hide the color on his cheeks. He knew his sibling was just jesting, but it made him feel lightheaded in a pleasant way. _

_"How about now?" Sesshoumaru offered, gripping Inuyasha's chin to tilt his head up until they looked at each other in the eyes._

_"How about never?" Inuyasha suggested, fidgeting uneasily, his earlier playfulness all downed the drain at the sight of his sibling's no-nonsense expression._

_"On contrary to popular belief, demons don't live forever, and you are stalling." His brother informed him bluntly._

_"Uh… I'll think about it later? When we don't have to worry about someone attempting to break into the house?" The half-demon avoided his brother's gaze, trying to dissipate the sudden tension and break the coldness seeped in his heart at Sesshoumaru's words._

_"Very well," His brother conceded, surprisingly, but tightened his embrace all the more. "Keep your life intact no matter what will happen, understand?"_

_Inuyasha nodded, "I'll try."_

_"Don't try. Do it. This is an order from your Lord and older brother."_

_Swallowing difficultly, Inuyasha opened his mouth, "I… we have not done talking… yet. There're still many things…"_

_"I am hearing."_

_Inuyasha shook his head. "Later. When this is over." He turned around in Sesshoumaru's arms to wrap his hands tightly around his sibling's torso. "So you have to be alright too."_

_Sesshoumaru smirked. "I'll only have to deal with a thief shamelessly desperate for undeserving attention. So far there is this certain _hanyou_ worthy to be called my opponent and obviously he isn't one who will only dare to strike when the house is missing its owner."_

_"I hope I'm not being deceived this time, even though last time you proved to be able to do it… much later." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes warningly, knowing his sibling recalled the incident with his Mother's demon imposter well enough. It was never be one of Sesshoumaru's best moments and his past transgression would forever be there between them, albeit not always a bitter reminder since it was currently being used as a leverage for Inuyasha to force his sibling into compliance of his demands. Though his effort to intimidate Sesshoumaru was failed due to a carmine hue ran across his cheeks from the warmth and fuzzy feeling after his brother not-so-subtle compliment._

_"You have my words this one will not be alive for long."_

_Inuyasha jutted his bottom lip, obviously dissatisfied. "It has nothing to do with what I want to hear."_

_"You haven't said anything I want to hear either." Sesshoumaru reasoned back, propping his chin on top of Inuyasha's head between the downy ears, sighing, "Consider yourself a very special creature to the Lord of Western Lands, otherwise he could have kept you under locks and keys instead of granting you such freedom to humiliate his authority so many times in the short period you were with him."_

_"So, to be treated like a national treasure or to be paraded around like one… all the same to me." Nuzzling his sibling all the more then near-violently forcing himself away and out of his brother's embrace before he couldn't, Inuyasha put on a brave face that he knew impossible to trick Sesshoumaru into believing anything, but he did anyway. The half-demon grinned, "That's why the national treasure of yours here will ensure victory of this meaningless scuffle is absolutely in your hands."_

.

"Even without me Sesshoumaru still has his mother. But he is everything I have left. No, he has always been… _everything_." Inuyasha stared at the older demon, who narrowed her eyes at his daring attitude in the presence of someone who entitled to his life. And his life was exactly what he had brought with him from the West, not his loyalty to these foreign lands.

Kouga watched the exchange in silent contemplation. Now without Kagome, he was left with all the things he had been refusing to acknowledge when it came to Inuyasha. Impression, previously paled in comparison with his infatuation with the priestess who could sense and locate the shards of the Sacred Jewel. Not only did he owe Inuyasha more than one apology from the first time they meet, being set up by Kagura and Naraku, he also had his ass saved many times over the course of their time hunting down the Spider half-breed. So enticingly desirable for a _hanyou,_ who advanced far more than what he could have wished to achieve despite living longer as a Demon Prince. It was unacceptable…

"And to answer your resolve, Sesshoumaru will not draw his sword." Her voice turned his attention back to the duologue between Inuyasha and the elder demon.

Golden eyes widened in disbelief, Inuyasha almost unable to draw a breath. "What—are you…!"

"His house was left without its owner. The one he brought with him is in the hands of someone else. An honorable ruler only unsheathes his blade to protect something, but he is now the Lord who has nothing. Tell me, Inuyasha, where is the reason for Sesshoumaru to draw his sword."

"I…" Inuyasha shook his head, no longer confused as much as he was in denial, words failed him. Since when… did things become too complicate for him? _"No…!"_

"If the current Lord of the Western Lands was no more, the Royal House of Eastern Region would be keeping his heir. Words would travel and many would come to tear these lands apart in name of honoring his legacy while in reality they wished to conquer. As expected from one who bears the name of destruction. If he was to fall he would bring down everything together with him, as long as there is something existed to keep you out of his reach." The Lady stared at Inuyasha, who looked like a deer caught in headlights, "Sesshoumaru is fighting for nothing but the reason he lost you."

* * *

He sunk his front legs, poison-dripping talons deep inside the Dragon taiyoukai's lengthy shape and ripped out a big chunk of flesh with his maw before leaping backward, dodged the furious tail aiming his head in the nick of time. His main annoyance was the other taiyoukai's regeneration speed. _Too fast_, too fast it was abnormal. What was he overlooking?

The wind changed for a moment, instantly calming his agitated mind with a scent that was distinctively… Inuyasha's.

_'How pitiful'_, Sesshoumaru thought to himself, _'Even now I can still feel you.'_ Then came regret. _'Maybe I should have told him…'_

It was that same split second of distraction that cost him. The black scaly body coiled around his, successfully immobile him.

.

.

.

_"… One couldn't help falling in love with another…"_

_"Have you…?"_

_._

_._

_._

_To the cherished one and only I've wronged,_

_May my fall grant you freedom_.

Venomous fangs pierced through skin, sank deep in his neck.

"SESSHOUMARU!"

* * *

He saw his brother stilled as if he had picked up something. But to his horror, Sesshoumaru didn't act even when the Dragon creeped up to him from the ground and bound him even easier than a fool. Inuyasha completely lost it at the same time his brother released a howl of pain, choking in his own blood.

"SESSHOUMARU!"

_'And now I am hearing your voice, too…'_ His delirious mind chuckled helplessly, conjuring a familiar figure in red looking up at him, grinning, wide golden eyes shined and glistered full of mischievousness. But the lovely expression soon contorted to that of a ravenous beast, fangs bared in uncontrollable rage, crimson eyes searching his with tears ran down the cheeks with twin purple jagged strips on either side.

Only being slapped in the face by the old same instant of fear not unlike that first time he felt his Father's blood awaken in Inuyasha's demonized form told him this was reality. Sesshoumaru overturned his body to regain balance mid-air, chomped down on the Dragon's upper torso in the same place he had been bitten between his jaws causing it to release him in a painful angry hiss, while broken free of its hold in a burst of power and slammed its body headfirst to the ground with his massive weight. Feeling an addition murderous intent from behind, he leaped out of the way before countless diamond spears rained down on the reptile body from Inuyasha's Kougosouha. But Sesshoumaru shifted back to his humanoid form and swooped down to retrieve both Inuyasha and the discarded-Tetsusaiga when his mindless demon sibling promptly threw the heirloom away to pounce on the prone Dragon demon with fangs bared and claws elongated.

"Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru called once and that was all it needed for the half-turned-full demon to cease his struggling and looked carefully at who was restraining him.

Pupils dilated, Inuyasha swallowed, hands trembling while caressing his sibling's cheeks to ensure he wasn't just having a sweet dream within the endless nightmare of his own making. Clearly his mind was playing trick on him. Before his eyes his sibling had fallen to the ground with the enemy's jaws closing around his neck. His nostrils also smelt his sibling's blood when it splattered from the Dog Demon's maw as well as where he had been bitten, staining his white fur in red. And all he had seen later was the same red, bleeding from rage and grief and fear. So raw and pure and unyielding was the temptation to lose himself in lust for blood in exchange for vengeance, nevermore a need to come back… for the reason had gone, taken from him so suddenly right before his eyes. But here he was… Inuyasha leaned up to lick away the trail of blood from the corner of Sesshoumaru's lips, a kind of liquid that was warm and surprisingly sweet, flowing down his throat in a manner that was almost sensual with a mind of its own. The half-demon sighed, nearly humming in pleasure only to catch up with reality when his back got a burning reminder of Tetsusaiga's natural reaction when coming into contact with demons. It was then he noticed the crimson spot kept spreading from the top of his brother's neckline downward, but Sesshoumaru caught both his wrists with one hand before he could rip open the white-turned-red attire to assert the damage.

"You are not supposed to be here." Sesshoumaru told his younger sibling, sheathing Tetsusaiga now that he wasn't necessarily needing it to keep Inuyasha's demon blood at bay by poking the younger in his back anymore. It would also be easier to tighten his grip around Inuyasha for more than just the reassurance that he wouldn't accidentally drop his bundle while they were airborne.

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha sniffled, shaking his head violently to get rid of the tears before looking at his brother again, still in a half-dazed state but with a clearer mind. "I don't know where else I'm supposed to be but here."

"Preferably somewhere safer." Sesshoumaru told him before maneuvering them to avoid a series of vicious blasts from below where their enemy had fallen, one was derailed by Ah-Un's thunderbolt as he was on his way to reach them.

"I never believe I would love this dragon so much!" Inuyasha laughed as he mounted Ah-Un when the two-headed demon got close enough, who gave him a 'duh' look.

"Get him to the village," Sesshoumaru ordered Ah-Un.

"Hell no!" Inuyasha snapped, peering down to gauge their enemy. "Don't you think we're at disadvantage here? I'm pretty sure he can see us very well because he's obviously not even a human." The later part he mumbled to himself.

"I stand out more at night no matter where I hide myself." Sesshoumaru drawled, "Your point?"

Inuyasha had no trouble locating the Sky Palace only to rush out immediately upon not seeing his sibling, leaving in his wake a bunch of demons in distress got ordered to stay put by Sesshoumaru ("But what about us?!" "I don't know, go clean the house or come sit on the stairs or something!") As soon as he caught a flash of white fur in pitch-black surroundings from the corner of his eyes while trying to sniff out his demon brother, he had push Ah-Un with abandon to get to Sesshoumaru. Apparently having a genetic perpetual ethereal glow around oneself might be pretty to look at on normal days but wasn't always ideal when one didn't wish to be spotted by enemies. "Okay…" The half-demon said carefully.

"I'd rather having myself in a place I can see where he's coming and repay him in kind than letting him corner me into one of his nests. After all I've chased him back to his own home, and I promised you his death."

"Then… isn't it enough reason to use Bakusaiga?" Inuyasha questioned quietly.

Eyes lingered on his sibling, Sesshoumaru made to say something before he stopped himself and turned his attention sharply to his left.

A long howl reached their ears before multiple answering howls followed.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in realization. "Kouga…"

Before their eyes was the Eastern army, completely surrounding them from the mountain top on his left to the forest on his right, in the ready for battle. In addition, the Dragon demon emerged as good as new, lower body curling around the hill behind them, no trace of injuries in his person whereas Inuyasha was sure his earlier delivering of Diamond Spears should have at least bought them more time to plan the last wave of attack to end this once and for all.

"What the hell?!" Inuyasha snarled, prepared to aim another Kongousouha at the lengthy black body. A Meido Zangetsuha would never go wrong, but Kouga was well within range and he didn't want to cause unnecessary damage before the Wolves named their business.

"If you can do this to them, we have a reason to believe you will later do the same to us. Besides, our Lord wouldn't dare show his face to the late Great Dog General if we harm his sons. If the Lord of Western Lands and his troublesome puppy would like our assistance, we'd gladly lend them a hand!" Kouga shouted at the snarling Dragon demon, accompany by cheering howls of his clansmen.

"I'M NOT HIS PUPPY YOU MANGY-WOLF!" Waving his fist threateningly at the Wolf Prince, Inuyasha hollered back in mortification, ignored Sesshoumaru's offhanded comment that he didn't deny the 'troublesome' part.

"Congratulations, you've officially become a national treasure, I have no idea what to do with you anymore." Sesshoumaru deadpanned and raised his hand to grip the hilt of Bakusaiga while Inuyasha watched with a slow smile quickly morphed into a full-blown grin.

"He draws his sword. Didn't you say he wouldn't?" Kouga glanced at the figure beside him in confusion, she was entirely hidden from both the elements and onlookers' eyes by the thick pale pink veil covered her from head to toe.

"Because _now_ he has a reason to," The feminine voice answered him, huffing moodily, "I thought a human was bad enough, now he readily condemned our existence for a _hanyou_."

Sesshoumaru jumped down, heading straight at the Dragon demon with Bakusaiga's destructive aura sizzled viciously around him. Inuyasha stood on Ah-Un's saddle, a flick of his hand and Tetsusaiga came to life with its blade turned black.

Kouga frowned when he felt a rumble below his feet. Slit pale eyes narrowed when survival instinct went off in his head. "Stand back!" He barked at his pack, who immediately caught on what was happening and did as they were told, but they still looked at him in confusion. "Since I happen to know that hanyou over there for a long time and quite used to his fancy fighting style, I'd rather not getting anywhere near his range." Kouga elaborated with a grin. Inwardly he was wondering if he should have chosen a friendlier company to associate, preferably one not having a homicidal sibling. The thought mutually shared among his pack.

They watched as Sesshoumaru got himself swallowed down the Dragon demon's throat after several failed attempts proved Bakusaiga couldn't scratch the dragon's scales. Unlike earlier, Inuyasha was perfectly calm. Aside from his eyes hidden within the shadow cast by his bang, only the thin line downward of his lips was visible from their point of view, and perhaps a tightening grip on his sword didn't go unnoticed by the same cloaked figure stood among the Wolf demons.

No one moved excepted the triumphant Dragon demon who was bragging about how easily he had defeated the heir of the one sealed away his older sibling. As soon as he started describing how he was going to crush the second son now that he had ultimately killed the first one between his fangs, his laughter was abruptly cut off by his own shrieking noise when a tear appeared from his lower body and gradually expanded upward. Black liquid poured out from the gaping wound, then emerged Sesshoumaru, whole and well, in his wake a torrent of escaping demons of all kinds.

"What the—?!" Eyes widened, Kouga felt his earlier dinner protesting at the sight and tried to keep everything down.

"That answered the question why he has no follower. Had you agreed to side with him, your entire clan would have ended up in his stomach when you were sleeping." The cloaked figure smiled contemptuously at the fallen Dragon taiyoukai in a split second when their eyes met, all the more haughtily when a flash of recognition flickered in those slit red eyes. "Now, _fall_," She dismissed the angry dragon roar in her direction with the same airy tone, knowing the adversary read her lips fine enough to receive the message.

Seeing the Dragon demon was trying to absorb the remaining demons inside to convert them into his own power and sped up his healing innards, Sesshoumaru jammed Bakusaiga on the ground before he was completely surrounded by the lengthy body right above him. Bakusaiga's demonic aura and destructive characteristic spread around the area at alarming rate, submerged the whole landscape along with the struggling Dragon taiyoukai in a flood of poison broke free from underground like volcanic lava through the enormous crack his sword had created. The range of damage went as far as where the Eastern army had previously stationed.

The Dragon, having abandoned the ground to take refuge mid-air, in haste not noticing a certain half-demon who had been waiting for the moment he did just that, was not fast enough to escape the multiplying black waves in crescent moon shape flying at him. Inuyasha didn't care to keep his eyes on the defeated taiyoukai just to make sure of his success in sending his enemy straight to Hell, he jumped off Ah-Un into the arms of his unsuspecting sibling, who had reappeared at his side as soon as he demonstrated the Meidou Zangetsuha. Had the half-demon hadn't been busy laughing his head off at their enemy's demise while clinging to his sibling like a demanding infant, he could have caught the smirk Sesshoumaru sent in the direction of their onlookers.

"That fucking old dog, he seriously—totally attempted to murder us just now." Kouga pointed out unnecessarily.

"Completely lacks any charm." The cloaked Lady repeated, disappeared in a huff.

Kouga watched the elder demon departed then glanced at the siblings from the corner of his eyes with a long sigh. "Unwavering loyalty, complete devotion, ardent trust, not to mention a royal puppy. I used to want one for myself, but then I realized the hard way there is one drawback to balance out so many perfect attributes in a companion any ruler would have willingly traded even his lands and title for…"

"Kouga…" Ginta and Hakkaku looked at their leader in sympathy.

"He _chooses_ his owner. That's why," Kouga continued, grinning at his two loyal best friends. "It's unacceptable… that he already belonged to someone before he knew it himself, even when I was the one got on his good side first."

* * *

"Sesshoumaru-sama, you are injured!" Jaken fretted as soon as he spotted his Lord returned with the relatively unwounded Inuyasha. That apparently gave permission for the waiting demons to follow his lead and fussing around the siblings. Though their annoying good will was short-lived by a glare coming from the Lord of Western Lands. Sesshoumaru made it clear he could care less about dealing with them any longer by guiding his younger to the inner part of the Palace, where uninvited entry was equal trespassing.

Inuyasha looked around the chamber he was led into. The fur carpet was welcoming after spending his entire life barefoot and knew more rough surfaces than he cared to list out. He would happily curl up where he stood and slept away the exhaustion had caught up with him now that all the adrenalin and additional demon blood had gone dormant in his system. But Sesshoumaru, still keeping a firm grip around his shoulders, pulled him toward the pure white fur bedding that could have cushioned all of their traveling companions and still having more space to spare. Before Inuyasha could wonder how it would feel to roll around or even jumping on it, his back sank on the sea of softness with his sibling heavily on top of him. Unmoving.

Wetness seeped into his clothing and dribbled below until the white under him turned red, red and sticky like the liquid soaking his hands when he lifted them away from his sibling. Inuyasha knew if he licked his fingers, it would taste exactly like Sesshoumaru's blood.

"Sesshoumaru…? Sesshoumaru!" He called in distress. _What could I do?! What to do?!_ He repeated the question in his mind like a mantra while fearing if he shook his sibling too much, he would only make it worse. Everything he did would make it worse.

"What do we have here?" A cold voice silenced his hysteria. "Oh so sweet, so heartbroken, so _disgusting_." Only moving by instinct Inuyasha cradled his brother and leaped away to land far from the presence behind him, before the poison claws struck where they had been.

He had heard her voice when he was in the East with Kouga clan, but she had always been hidden from his view. Had he seen her there it would have been no doubt in his mind then, like there was no doubt in his mind now who she was as soon as he saw her. All this time, she had been hidden right before his eyes. Still he got frozen nonetheless every time he caught her gaze. But when her attention slid down to _who_ he had in his protective hold, his vision immediately bled red, a growl bubbling from his throat, he crouched low, partly hiding her unconscious son from her view should she decide to strike the obviously easier target first on her next try.

"Now, _those_ are the eyes I want to see. Set him down. Since you don't want me come closer to any of you, you will do as I instruct… if you wish to keep his life."

* * *

Inuyasha felt like she was deliberately punishing both of them. Sesshoumaru, for doing what he did. And him, for being the reason of Sesshoumaru doing what he did. She had told him the poisonous Dragon fang had pierced his sibling where it was supposed to be. The heart was unable to restore itself due to the destabilizing nature of Dragon's poison. But due to Sesshoumaru's immunity against poison of all kinds, his heart had been strong enough to form a temporary dense structure around where the fang stuck to prevent further damage from spreading to the remaining part. He only needed to remove the fang.

A simple thing that could cost his brother's life if done wrong.

If he hacked it off too fast, the heart would not have enough time to reconstruct itself from the force that also torn off the protective scab helped preventing his sibling from bleeding to death. If he did it too slow, the nature healing would work against Sesshoumaru and used up his remaining lifeforce in order to regenerating him before the fang was completely removed.

Whatever he did, Sesshoumaru would feel only pain the entire way.

When his hands closed around the protruding Dragon fang from his brother's chest, he felt like crying again. Though unlike the rage and grief earlier, but fear and hatred this time.

"Or you can make it easy for the both of you just by running your hand through what remaining of his heart, let him die quicker and use Tenseiga to bring him back from the death then." She suggested, her tone light as if she was talking about today's weathercast.

"Don't underestimate _my brother_!" Inuyasha growled and pulled the abominated appendage out of his sibling. At the same time he threw Tetsusaiga to the other side of the chamber farthest from him and push his wrist in between Sesshoumaru's jaws when his sibling opened his mouth to snarl in unconscious response to the sudden spike of pain that must have raked his entire being.

He hadn't noticed the Lady stood abruptly from her seat at the change in his blood as it was being swallowed down her son's throat from where he had been bitten. In his mind was the reckless idea he got from the first time when he came into contact with Sesshoumaru's blood. He had felt power, immense power not belong to him but had dissolved into his own that made it taste sweetly poisonous. Would his brother draw power from his demon blood too?

Before he was too far gone however, he felt warm hand caressing his ears and her voice whispering. It could be all his imagination that he heard a soft and pleased and proud, _"Welcome home, dear long-lost ones."_

* * *

"I am about to do something selfish." He heard Sesshoumaru's voice as soon as he came into consciousness. At first he had no idea what his sibling was talking about, but it all rushed back to him that everything else was unimportant in a fact that Sesshoumaru has finally awoken from his deep slumber while his body recuperated. Inuyasha immediately hovered over the demon, gasped as he was indeed seeing his very awake brother, thus he was unprepared when said brother put a hand on the back of his head to pull him startlingly closer until their lips touched.

He had received kiss more recently, from the Lady of the Western Lands as she sat beside him watching over Sesshoumaru together. Listening to his side of the story since the time he was a more aware of his surroundings, she held him, asking if this was the right way his mother had held him and would he accept a kiss on his forehead when he wordlessly nodded, unsure if his voice could come out then. He remembered his mother used to kiss him on the forehead, she had offered him her lifetime of unconditional love and told her so. She told him where they were going from now remained to be seen, for she had no habit of giving names to her own feelings and she wouldn't start any time soon.

If he had become a human, Kikyo would have continually kissed him as someone who she had given her heart.

Kagome almost accepted him whole as what he was and her kiss once brought him back from a place of no return. She taught him to trust again even if there was a part of him always invoked the fear within her. And as she couldn't tolerate his demon, that demon hadn't once in a mind to consider her either.

It had taken them so long, but Inuyasha understood things had to happen to end up the way they were supposed to be. Though he could have done away with anything potentially result in him losing his sibling, not now and preferably not ever. Not when he finally be loved, truly deeply madly, by the same creature that could equally destroy him.

"Please do continue to be selfish with me," Inuyasha sighed in bliss when he got what he wanted at last. Sesshoumaru was inside him. His blood was running within him. His voice was forever heard in his head even when his lips wouldn't move. His own body was laid claim so thoroughly that he no longer knew how to respond to anything else of the same nature. And he would be mindlessly issuing distress calls whenever his mate was too far away or taking too long to return to him.

_In exchange I will keep selfishly having you all to myself._

* * *

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Hello to Inuyasha in the year 2019.


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